Pakistan Bans Twitter

Claiming that cartoons of Muahmmed are their concern, Pakistan authorities have banned Twitter. Nukbat Malik claims that's just a lame excuse.

Twitter has emerged a key forum where subjects once thought to be taboo could be openly discussed without fear, says social media campaigner Nukhbat Malik. According to her, the mainstream media in Pakistan has avoided discussing issues like sectarian violence, criticism of the military establishment, and sensitive social issues like rape and child abuse.

Authorities have pounced on the blasphemous cartoons as "a lame excuse" to rein in the much broader,free-wheeling discourse on Twitter, says Ms. Malik, who works for Internews, an American organization focusing on empowering local media in Pakistan.[emphasis mine]